Portland vs. Iowa State Postgame Quotes

NCAA Tournament
Nov. 11, 2005
University of Nebraska

Portland Midfielder Lisa Sari
On Portland’s dominance in the midfield
"I think that once we started to get tighter to people and kept them from getting on our half it made it a lot easier on ourselves. We got into the right starting positions and were winning balls in the air and making sure that we moved for each other to get the ball back."

On pre-game nerves
"I was a little bit nervous but I think that it is just the feel of playoffs because you know that someone is going to go home. But I have a lot of confidence in our team so I knew it would work out."

Portland Forward Christine Sinclair
On her three goals
"It was just one of those days when everything goes in especially in the first half. During the first 20 minutes of the game we were really on fire. It was just one of those days."

Portland Head Coach Garrett Smith
On his team’s overall performance
"I thought it was a good performance to start with. There were a lot of moments of brilliance out there to score those early goals and that’s what this team is all about. The talent that we have going forward we look for a free-flowing attack that gets a lot of people involved. When we do, we have a lot of moments of brilliance and we have a lot of great players that create those moments."

On Portland’s shutout
"That’s always been a trademark of Portland. We try not to give up a lot of goals. We have a very organized team from forwards all the way through to our goalkeeper. They all take a lot of pride in our shutouts. I think also our ball possession helps us with that as well. Our attitude is if we have it and they don’t, they won’t score on us."

Iowa State Quotes

On preparing for Portland
“You look at them and their strengths and obviously their offense is one of the greatest in the nation. You prepare by playing defense all week. We did a decent job of preparing for it, and I think you just hope for the best and see if you can shut the team down.”

On Iowa State's future
“Our team has worked hard all season. We made the NCAA Tournament. They future is very bright. We’re graduating three starters this year, so we’ll see a lot of familiar faces on our roster next year, and we have a great class coming in. We’re very excited about the future here. I think our seniors have done an excellent job building this program up and showing everyone how to play. This is the first season we’ve actually got some recognition, and I think next season is just going to be better.”

Head Coach Rebecca Hornbacher 
On preparing for Portland

“I think any game we’re going in to play we’re going in to compete and going in to win. We played against one of the most talented teams in the country with a prolific scorer like Christine Sinclair, you try and limit the time and space that she has on the ball. But you still have to go out and you still have to attack at them and create opportunities. I think we created some opportunities in the first half, and even in the second half we still kept going at them. However, they had some opportunities and they were absolutely brilliant with their passing in the final third (of the field), and the capitalized on some of our errors.

“We knew that they were a very possession-oriented team, but we also felt that we could body up on them. Because they were a team that was such high-possession, we had to do something to try and thwart their possession, getting in on tackles and trying to put pressure on their back line. When we did that we were able to get some opportunities with deep throws in their end, as well as with corner kicks. I think we had some chances, but they kept on coming at us and they capitalized on their chances in the first half.”

“You prepare for a team that has Christine Sinclair, but she’s not the only weapon. She has such a dangerous supporting cast. They’ve scored a lot of goals and they’ve only allowed six all year. Knowing that you’re going in against that, you don’t preach to your team fear or intimidation. We don’t go into a game with that. We have to go with the things we’ve been successful with and trying to go at players one-versus-one looking for crosses, and individual defending had to be on. I think that what we saw on video and what I heard from coaches that have played them was very similar to what we saw today. We prepared to do the best we could with team defending, but also looking trying to attack. We just didn’t get it in the back of the net. We had some chances, and they capitalized on our errors. That’s a great team, and we’re on our way to being a lot better team. I’ve very proud of our team’s effort.”

On Iowa State's senior class

“I think (this season) has been amazing. I started in this program with the seniors that were here, and this means a lot to me to be a part of helping them and seeing them grow as a team. They laid the foundation for this program, but they built on that foundation. They also set very high goals for our team this year, and they met many of them. We’ve done things that people didn’t think we could do, and we continue to believe that we can do that. I think our future is very bright, but the foundation was laid and the fact that we made the NCAA Tournament is a credit to our seniors.”

Forward Kristina Bauman
On how Portland played compared to what Iowa State saw on film 

“They were pretty similar to what we saw and how they came out. We prepared the best we could, but they are a great team. They’ll do well. They’ll go far, and we wish them the best of luck.”

On concluding the season

“It’s disappointing, but at the same time (Portland was) a great team and I’m happy to have the opportunity to play them. We’ve never had this opportunity, and they’re probably the best team I’ve played in my life. It’s been an up-and-down season. I think this team really came together at the end, and it’s been phenomenal. It’s been great, and I’m so proud to be a part of it.”